Air Travel Generally Very Safe

January 26, 1997|By KRISTIN JACKSON The Seattle Times

Everyone wants to fly cheaply _ and safely. But thoughts of terrorism and mechanical failures lurk in many travelers' minds since the fatal crashes of the TWA and ValuJet planes last year and federal efforts to boost airline security.

How can you know if your carrier is safe?

For ordinary travelers, air-safety statistics are difficult to obtain and even more difficult to decipher.

But air-travel experts say that U.S. and Western European carriers, and airlines from other major industrialized countries, have excellent safety records. And as the airline industry continually points out, car travel has far more fatalities than does flying.

After the ValuJet crash in the Everglades, there was much speculation that low-fare carriers were cutting costs and thus eroding air-travel safety. However, Southwest Airlines, one of the most aggressively no-frills carriers, has one of the industry's best safety records.

Here are a few common-sense approaches that travelers can take:

* When flying overseas, try to fly a major carrier; some local airlines in some less developed countries have poor reputations.

* Landings are often when most accidents occur. Some countries lack good-quality terminal-approach radar and other guidance equipment; a recent study issued by the Flight Safety Foundation found that airplane landings are safest in North America and riskiest in Latin America and Africa. Even so, accidents remain rare.

* The U.S. Department of Transportation has a travel advisory line that lists security concerns or terrorist threats in the United States or abroad. Phone 800-221-0673.

* The State Department offers information for travelers _ from visa requirements to medical care _ through its consular information sheets issued for countries worldwide. It also issues warnings about air-travel saftey. Phone 202-647-5225 or for faxed information, 202-647-3000. Computer users with access to the Internet can check the department's web site (http://travel.state.gov/).